Gifted five-eighth/lock Scott Hill is best remembered as a founding Melbourne Storm great, while he represented NSW and Australia with distinction. Big League tracked down the Forster product to find out what he’s up to 17 years after hanging up the boots.
YOU’VE RECENTLY STARTED UP WELLNESS AND VITALITY SOLUTIONS – TELL US A BIT ABOUT THAT VENTURE.
Both of my parents are [in their 80s], you talk about aged care and so forth, and health and longevity. I’ve partnered up with a mate of mine that’s in the food industry and we just looked at all the areas of how to keep people healthier for longer. I did a lot of research into the aged care space, there was a Royal Commission six years ago and I took the stats and findings from that. I found that nutrition-wise, people in aged care could increase their protein levels and so forth.
I’m in the process of finding solutions to those areas in the aged care space where we can help people live longer, more independently and stronger. That was a driving force behind starting Wellness and Vitality Solutions, we’re in the process of manufacturing a few products and we’re on the cusp of connecting with aged care providers.
QUEENSLAND’S BEEN HOME SINCE RETIRING FROM FOOTY – WHAT WAS THE DRAW UP THERE?
After I finished in London we went back to Noosa on the Sunshine Coast and it was very similar to where I grew up, Forster on the North Coast of New South Wales – lakes and beaches – but at the same time we wanted to be close to a big city. If the climate we have in Queensland was the same in Melbourne, I would’ve went back to Melbourne.
DUBBO-BORN, BUT A FORSTER-TUNCURRY HAWKS JUNIOR…
I played all my junior league there, won a couple of premierships with my two older brothers in first grade before I went to Sydney. My parents and older brother still live there so I still get home whenever I can. I don’t think there’s too many better places, I’m fortunate to have grown up there.
SUPER LEAGUE SIGNED YOU UP AND ALLOCATED YOU TO THE HUNTER MARINERS, BUT YOU MADE YOUR DEBUT FOR THE BULLDOGS IN 1996. HOW DID THAT UNFOLD?
I was part of the 19s squad at the Mariners but because the court case didn’t allow Super League to start they shipped us out to different clubs and I went to Canterbury. They had a full squad in the 19s so they put me in the Bankstown under-18 competition, which frustrated me after playing two years of first grade in the country – I was nearly ready to go home.
Then they moved me into the 19s squad at Canterbury and they weren’t having the best season [in first grade]. They weren’t going to make the finals and Terry Lamb was retiring and they were looking for a replacement. [Coach] Chris Anderson went to the Board and said he wanted to play me; they laughed at it and said, ‘He’s a two iron with ears!’ – there wasn’t much of me. So I played a game of reserve grade and found that quite easy then was fortunate enough to play the last five games that year in first grade. I’ve got a hundred percent record at the Dogs – I never lost a game. If Super League had not gone ahead I would’ve stayed.
THE MARINERS’ EXISTENCE WAS BRIEF BUT MEMORABLE – AND RELATIVELY SUCCESSFUL. WHAT ARE YOU FOREMOST MEMORIES OF 1997?
I was just excited to be playing first grade and on my [20th] birthday we beat the Broncos in Newcastle, then the next day we flew out to Paris [for the World Club Challenge]. I was at a bar and John McEnroe’s band was playing on the Champs-Élysées while the French Open was on – for a 20-year-old it was pretty exciting. We had a good side and a mix between youth and experience. The [World Club Challenge] concept was amazing and we went back over again for the quarter-final against Wigan at Central Park, then the final (a loss to the Broncos) was in New Zealand.
HOW IMPORTANT WAS THE BOND OF ALL THE MARINERS PLAYERS, AS WELL AS THE BATCH OF PERTH REDS PLAYERS, TO THE IMMEDIATE SUCCESS OF MELBOURNE STORM?
That was critical, but John Ribot was very smart in how he set up the club. Getting someone like Chris Anderson from a family-oriented club like Canterbury, bringing together a combination of mainly Mariners and Reds guys then a couple of genuine leaders like Glenn Lazarus, that was a perfect recipe. We didn’t know anyone, people were unaware of us in Victoria … it was a pioneering experience. Good leaders, great coaching staff and a culture that was built on looking after each other and hard work – and look where the club is today.
Being in Melbourne, we weren’t around media so we didn’t give a shit about what everyone said. We just concentrated on what we had to do to be as good as we could be as a footy team. We had a really good combination of experience and exciting youth, myself and Brett Kimmorley, and guys like Robbie Ross, Matt Geyer and Richard Swain. We were a youthful, vibrant sort of team that didn’t take a backward step.
1999 WAS OBVIOUSLY A BITTERSWEET YEAR FOR YOU – THE STORM WON THE COMP BUT YOU WERE SIDELINED WITH A SHOULDER RECONSTRUCTION AND THEN A HEAD INJURY FROM AN OFF-FIELD INCIDENT…
It was touch and go whether I’d make it back [for the finals] with my shoulder and I was in my hometown and got hit over the head and was in intensive care for a week. It was touch and go whether I was ever going to be able to play footy again. It was a challenge, but like everything you can either pack up or you dig in deep and work hard. That’s what I did over the off-season and went on to have probably my most successful year individually [in 2000], playing Origin [winning] three-nil and winning a World Cup was pretty exciting. It had been a tough [previous] year physically and emotionally … but I worked hard on areas I needed to be a better player; I was proud of myself how I got back to where I did.
THE STORM HAD A COUPLE OF LEANER YEARS, THEN CRAIG BELLAMY ARRIVED IN 2003 AND THE ‘BIG FOUR’ EMERGED. WHAT WAS IT LIKE BEING AN ELDER STATESMAN AND A FOUNDATION PLAYER AS THAT NEW ERA UNFOLDED?
It was just great to be a part of, as a mentor to a lot of them. Craig did a fantastic job and it brought out the best of me as a senior player. The young players are pushing hard to better each year and it drags you along. Craig obviously made an impact on everyone when he arrived.
I HATE TO BRING UP MORE PREMIERSHIP HEARTACHE, BUT THE 2006 GRAND FINAL LOSS – WHEN YOU SET UP BOTH TRIES IN YOUR 200TH FIRST GRADE GAME – MUST HAVE BEEN A TOUGH WAY TO LEAVE THE STORM AFTER THE CLUB’S AMAZING SEASON.
It’s one of those games where experience beat skill. The Broncos had a lot more guys that had played high-level games and rep footy, we had a few guys that probably didn’t turn up on the night, and that’s what it takes to win or lose a grand final. Their experience with Darren Lockyer, Shane Webcke, Brad Thorn … and they handled the situation better than us. I’ve never been one to blame referees, but they definitely got the rub of the green.
FINISHING YOUR CAREER IN LONDON WITH HARLEQUINS MUST HAVE BEEN A MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE?
It was great for me to take my family over there – that’s where my two oldest kids both first went to school. We had a great time and I had the opportunity to stay, but they wanted me for another three years. These days players are managed through fatigue, but back then when I felt flat in games I thought I was unfit so I trained harder. Instead, I was compounding the tiredness and fatigue. I retired because I’d had enough, I was probably fatigued more mentally than physically. If I’d had the monitoring they do these days I might’ve got another three years out of myself, but as it was, it was my decision and I was still fortunate to get plenty of games under my belt.
I’M SURE YOU STILL FOLLOW THE STORM’S FORTUNES CLOSELY FROM QUEENSLAND?
Yeah, we’ve got a Melbourne old boys group and we’re doing some pretty good things there. We’re in the process of starting our own entity and really establish our own way of generating some income to try and support our ex-players as much as we can. And I still follow the Storm with a fair bit of passion, being a Life Member – it’s great to have been part of that legacy and the success it continuing to show.
DATE OF BIRTH
30 May, 1977
CURRENT AGE
48
BIRTHPLACE
Dubbo, NSW
POSITION
Five-eighth, lock
PLAYING HISTORY
1996: Canterbury Bulldogs
1997: Hunter Mariners
1998-2006: Melbourne Storm
2007-08: Harlequins
REP FOOTBALL
2000, 2002, 2004: Australia
2000, 2002: NSW
2001-02, 2004-05: Country Origin
JUNIOR CLUB
Forster-Tuncurry Hawks
TOTAL MATCHES
265
TRIES | POINTS
59 | 238
